Exploring Suprasegmentals in English: A Theory and Practice Handbook

Impresiones FL

Lugar: Córdoba; Año: 2014 p. 125

978-987-1976-07-2

The readers of this book are likely to agree that pronunciation is an important aspect of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In addition, most of them have probably learnt that the mispronunciation of a word can be a problem in oral communication, even if that involves changing simply one sound for another. A portion of the readers may even be aware that there is more to conveying a spoken message successfully than merely producing the correct segments (=individual sounds; phonemes) in every word. In fact, other aspects of the pronunciation are equally (or sometimes even more) important because they have an impact on such elements as syllables, words, phrases and even whole sentences; that is, elements involving more than one segment. And because they influence units larger than segments, they are labelled suprasegments (=extending over or above segments; hence, the term). It is precisely with suprasegmental (also known as prosodic) phenomena that this book is mostly concerned and to this portion of readers that this book is addressed. More specifically, the focus is placed on phonemic adjustments, word stress, rhythm, prominence and intonation. Each chapter provides theory and extensive practice in one of these topics, with the exception of Chapter 5. This particular chapter has been designed to practise intonation in both relatively short stretches of decontextualized language and more communicative, interactional pieces. Besides, this section is meant to be used in tandem with Intonation in Context, by Barbara Bradford (1988).